Improvement in fishways



D. FISHER.

r Fishway.

No. 206,715. Patented Aug. 6, 18781 WITNESSES INVENTOR M I ATTORNEYS.

N.FETERS. PHOTO- JThOGRAPHER WASHINGTCN D C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

DANIEL FISHER, OF CAIRO, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FISHWAYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 206,715, dated August6, 1878; application filed July 12, 1878.

'To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DANIEL Frsunn, of Cairo,in the county of Union and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a newand Improved Fishway, of which the following is a specification Theobject of my invention is to provide a device for checking the currentof water at dams in rivers or creeks for allowing fish to pass, wherebymigratory fish may travel up streams during the spawning season.

My invention consists in a trunk or chute provided with dams or ledges,placed alternately at the sides of the chute, to check the current andform a sinuous passage for the water, whereby a channel is made for thefish to pass up or down; and the shape of the ledges is such that awiderchannel is allowed in proportion to the depth of water.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan of my improved fishway. Fi g. 2 is alongitudinal section of the same at the line 00 w, and Fi 3 is across-section at the line 3 y.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts.

a is a trunk or chute of the desired size, having a bottom, I), andsides 0. d d are series of offsets or ledges, projecting alternatelyfrom the sides 0 0. These offsets present an inclined surface to thecurrent through the chute, and the bottom one, a, of each series is thelargest, and will confine the water to a narrow channel, while thepassage enlarges for a greater quantity of water. This enlargement is obtained by gradually decreasing the size of the offsets in each series,the top one, f, being smallest, and allowing the water to escape mostrapidly. The result of this is, that the current at the bottom is themost broken, and with a small quantity of water it will be deep enoughto permit the fish to pass, while a larger supply of water may gothrough more readily.

The water, in its passage through the chute a, is caused by the ledgesto take a sinuous course from one side of the chute to the other, thusaffording an easy angle for the fish to ascend.

I prefer to form the chute and offsets of wood and stone, and toconstruct the ledges from strips, put together as shown.

I do not limit myself to the number of lodges in the series, or theirdistance apart, as those particulars may be varied without departingfrom my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patcut- The series of inclined ledges or ofisets, diminishingin size from the bottom to the top in each series, in combination withthe spout or chute a, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

DANIEL FISHER.

YVitnesscs:

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